The invention relates to the field of steelmaking and, particularly, to a method and apparatus for in line cooling of a workpiece, especially a continuous rolled non-flat workpiece.
Steelmaking requires cooling systems for the proper treatment of articles being fabricated. Proper cooling can improve the characteristics of the end product, especially the strength and ductility of the product.
Conventional cooling systems utilize spray systems to spray cooling medium such as water over the surface of fabricated articles. Typical examples of such spray-cooling systems are included in U.S. Pat. No. 3,983,925 to Dutzler, U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,906 to Bachner and U.S. Pat. No. 3,589,429 to Schoffmann.
Spray cooling systems, however, require large volumes of water. Further, the cooling rate achieved by such spray cooling systems is not suitable for "in-line" use. That is, when the article is to be cooled while being conveyed from one treatment station to another, too much space is required to obtain the proper amount of cooling with a spray cooling system. Steel rolling mills, however, typically produce rolled articles at relatively high rolling speeds. Thus, conventional spray cooling is particularly unsatisfactory for use in rolling mills.
It is desirable, accordingly, to provide a cooling system which does not use excessive amounts of water and which provides the desired amount of cooling without requiring excessive amounts of space.
It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for cooling workpieces which provides accelerated cooling.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a method and apparatus which does not require excessive amounts of water.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a method and apparatus which allows control of the velocity and pressure of the cooling medium.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a method and apparatus which are well suited to "in-line" use in a rolling mill.
Other objects and advantages will appear hereinbelow.